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Friday, 6 July 2012

Turn Your Passion Into A Small Business

Turn Your Passion Into A Small Business

By Chika Uwazie

Follow your passion and success will
follow you. Are you young and passionate? Are you ready to go on to the
next steps and start your own business? We are lucky to be born into
an economy that has given us the ability to become entrepreneurs.
Technology has facilitated this growth, but also more than ever more
people want to work for themselves. Sure, entrepreneurship is far from
easy, but it can be really rewarding. Before you plunge yourself into
the world of entrepreneurship, here are the steps you should take to
build your business.

Research
Never
just jump into a business idea without thinking all the way through.
This should be done before the business plan. You need to make sure
that your idea has a real need for the market. A way to analyze this is
through Michael Porter’s 5 forces of analysis. Even though this is an
old method it still is a great way to see how your idea stacks up
against the industry and a way to look at consumer behaviors as well.
The best ideas will be something that has low competition currently and
a high consumer demand. Why do you think Twitter took the world by
storm? It was a need that people wanted and no one else was doing what
twitter does for consumers. Really take the time to weigh the pros and
cons of your ideas. Thorough research it will help you see how viable
your idea is for the market.

Test your idea to the market
Before
you run to investors with your idea, test it out to see if it has
potential to grow. It can be a prototype and using people in your local
area to see how many actually bought your product. If it is a service
idea gather some customers and test your services with them. Use this
time to ask questions about your product. Asked people if they like it,
do they see themselves buying it. Some people test out their product
for a trial period for free and monitor the response. You can use this
sample to show investors your product or service will grow and
eventually will bring money to their pockets.

Build the Team
This
step can be before or after you start testing out your product. Every
great business has a great team which is an essential asset. The right
team member can be right under your nose. It can be someone you went to
school with, or a friend that shares the same passion. Make sure your
team is diverse and can contribute a different skill to your business. A
good business person realizes they cannot be the alpha and omega. The
right team will support your idea and turn it into a reality Team
members do not even have to be physically in the same area. There are
lots of start ups out there where the team members are virtual and
eventually they meet in person. If you do decide to go this route, your
team must have good lines of communication.

Fund it
Everyone
wants to know where to get money to fund an idea. Realistically Africa
just simply does not have enough places to get funding, but it is not
impossible. Funding your business idea normally goes in several rounds,
in the first round look at your close circle. Pitch your idea to
family members; get several people involved in raising funds. After
your initial round of funds than look into other methods of investing.
When you pitch to an investor you only have one shot. Make sure to be
prepared and be ready to answer all questions. Investors want to know
how your idea benefits them. If you cannot predict your strategy of
growth and an exit strategy your are not ready. They want to see the
value of the business and when they can get their money back. This is
the time to present any sample data you have, and your feedback on the
market. Also remember every investor is not for you, do not take a deal
if you feel like you are selling your soul away. Make sure whoever you
invest with can be a mentor as well. If you have all those answers
ready to go, you will have a better leverage with an investor. A great
place to start is VC4Africa. This website is a great meeting place for
start ups and investors. They also have tons of information for you to
find the right funding for your company.